ANALYSIS / Would someone tell the strip club-visiting admiral his career is over?

It is always fascinating when a political or military career comes to an end. It is a bit like the moments before and after a car accident. Is the outgoing head of the navy, Major General Eliezer Marom, the only person who does not recognize that his tenure has essentially come to an end? How much time will pass before someone, probably a lieutenant general, will pull him aside that tell him that the time has come to pack his things?

In his official response Tuesday night, which he made through the IDF Spokesman, Marom apologized and insisted that his appearance at a strip club had been a one-time folly. Even though last night he continued to make that claim, Haaretz has evidence to the contrary.

This is a major gamble for Marom. At any moment some witness may emerge - a driver, a woman, etc. and present a different picture. How reasonable is it to assume that this was a first for a person who is 50 years old?

Those who decided to appoint Marom to head the Navy, after he had already left the service, knew he had a "colorful personality." Some aspects of his record were considered before he was brought back, a move that stemmed in part from the lack of options available to Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi shkenazi.

Since the affair broke two days ago, many of the former and current senior officers are doing their best to keep their distance from the commander. The media has had trouble finding colleagues to step up and defend his behavior.

Still, the public assault on General Marom is both sanctimonious and self-righteous. It would be interesting to learn whether all those pelting the general with stones now would emerge clean and shiny from a detailed examination of their private lives.

Nonetheless, Marom will have to step down in the end, at least for the simple reason that appearances must be kept. A commander of soldiers who are sent to battle (as well as the female soldiers in the front or the back office) cannot be seen spending his free time in such a fashion.

Beyond the damage to its image, the Navy will now face another problem. They do not have many candidates to succeed him. The previous commander, General David Ben-Bassat, had been appointed as a last resort, and was slow at stepping down after a missile struck the destroyer INS Hanit during the Second Lebanon War. In fact, Ashkenazi had to push him out. Since then, Marom forced two senior brigadier generals out of the Navy.

At this rate they are going to have to bring back Ami Ayalon, which might not be such a bad idea. Ayalon was brought into the Shin Bet after the Rabin assassination. In any case, after his political failure he might be looking for a job.

	Go Go club owner Kobi Mizrahi outside of the club this week